christopher price

Ty Law says he'd like to retire as a Patriot

Ty Law believes he has one more contract in him. But this time around, he’s not looking for the big bucks — instead, the former Patriots cornerback dropped a not-so-subtle hint on Tuesday night, saying that he was “pretty much retired,” but that he’d like to sign a one-day contract with New England and retire a Patriot.

“That would be ... that’s one of the reasons I haven’t officially turned my papers in because I would like to at least say the last contract I sign was with New England,” Law said, speaking prior to being honored at The Tradition at the TD Garden. “That would be an honor if I was able to do that, if Mr. Kraft was to bless me with something like that, that would be the icing on the cake for a 15-year career.”

Law is the second former Patriot to make such a wish this offseason — linebacker Willie McGinest, who played in New England from 1994 until 2005 before finishing with the Browns, made a similar suggestion earlier this month. The franchise has never had a former player sign a one-day deal that would allow them to retire as part of the team. On Tuesday night, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked about the possibility of Law being part of such a scenario, and would only say that the former cornerback “always will be a Patriot.”

Coming full circle would be a unique opportunity for Law. Shortly after entering the NFL as a first-round pick of the Patriots in 1995, it was clear he was an elite corner, and he eventually became one of the defensive centerpieces of a team that would go on to win three Super Bowl titles. Along the way, he became universally accorded as one of the best corners in the game — the five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first team All-Pro played 10 seasons in New England, and finished his professional career with 53 interceptions.

But following an eventful 2004 season with the Patriots — one that included him alleging coach Bill Belichick “lies to support his family” and suffering a season-ending foot injury in a loss to the Steelers in October — Law departed as a free agent. He would go on to finish his career with stops in Kansas City, Denver and with the New York Jets. Along the way, he would be a part of some memorable New York wins, including an overtime victory against the Patriots in 2008 where he spent most of the evening matched up against Randy Moss.

Despite the less-than-happy departure — and his time in green and white — the positive memories of Law in a New England uniform lingered this week for many associated with the franchise.

“What he did ... how he anchored our backfield,” Kraft said. “What is etched in my memory was being at that Super Bowl [XXXVI] when he returned the ball 47 yards against the Rams. Just the swagger and the confident way he anchored our backfield. What people don’t realize is that part of the privilege of owning a team is that you get to meet with great guys, and Ty’s always been one of my favorites.”

“He knows how to, as we used to say, mug the receivers,” said former Patriots outside linebacker Andre Tippett. “He was a guy that gave your defense that confidence to know that Ty’s going to take care of one side of the field and we can take care of the rest of it. Sorta like when we had Mike Haynes and Raymond Clayborn. Put Ty Law in that group without batting an eye.”

“Ty was so much fun to play with because he kept it light a lot of times,” said former teammate Tedy Bruschi. “Sometimes in the huddle, Ty wouldn’t be in the huddle a bunch of times and you’d break the huddle and it’d be ‘Where’s Ty?’ He didn’t get the call. He’d look up to me and say, ‘Bru, man or zone?’ And I’d say man or zone and that’s all he needed to know and he’d go out there and get an interception. That was all he needed to know. A guy is that good and that’s all they need to know, you let them do their job any way they want to do it, and that’s how special Ty was.”

Told of Bruschi’s story Tuesday night, Law smiled.

“That’s how it was,” he laughed. “I mean, just point the guy out to me and let me know if I got him in man or zone. I was usually always out there running so I was trying to conserve a little bit of energy and not go all the way into the huddle because I was kind of all over the place trying to find a number. They would usually match me up week in and week out with the best guy, kind of like what [Darrelle] Revis does now: I ain’t got time to be going in there, I got to find this guy.

“So I had great supporting cast with my team and Tedy Bruschi was like a quarterback anyway. So all I got to do is look to Tedy and he would give me the signal, and I would keep it moving. If I couldn’t get Tedy, I would get Rodney [Harrison]. So I had a lot of people holding my hand out there telling me where to go.”

And he says he’ll be a Patriot to the end, regardless of what decision the franchise makes.

“We were never on bad terms as far as the organization and myself,” Law said. “We parted ways and that was it, but every time I came back it was a great welcome reception for me. I had no animosity toward the team. When we played against each other, it was competition there — most definitely — but never any animosity, because when you strip everything down, I was always a Patriot to the core. And I will always be.”

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